Toward semiotic sociology: A synthesis of semiology, semiotics and phenomenological sociology

Departing from the common view according to which structuralist semiology (the Saussurean tradition), pragmatist semiotics (the Peircean tradition) and phenomenological sociology (Husserl, Schutz, Berger and Luckmann, Garfinkel) are seen as mutually exclusive alternatives, the article attempts to outline their synthesis. The net result of the synthesis is that a conception emerges wherein action theories (rational choice, Weber, etc.) are based on phenomenological sociology, and phenomenological sociology is based on neo-structuralist semiotics, which is a synthesis of the Saussurean and the Peircian traditions of understanding habits of interpretation and interaction. This provides us with a research programme for semiotic sociology.